Hello…is anyone home? That’s what it must sound like to a bass under the surface of the lake when a ima Roumba comes skirting across. Knock, Knock…is anyone home? That’s what it must sound and look like when the ima Roumba is being retrieved sub surface to a bass. Some bass is going to answer the call when you come a knocking with a ima Roumba and they are not going to be happy. They may even try to kill or eat your Roumba. It’s like they don’t like to be “Waked” up by something slowly moving across their domain.

The ima Roumba (www.imalures.com) was designed by Bassmaster Elite Series professional angler Fred Roumbanis. “The Roumba is an extremely versatile bait that I’ll have tied on at least one rod year round. No matter what lake I go to across the country I know I’ll be able to get’em good on a Roumba. The reason is simple; I can imitate several types of baitfish with this lure. It can be used as a crawfish scooting right above shallow hydrilla, a frog hopping around open water lily pads, a rat or mouse skirting across the surface, or a bluegill coming up to sun,” explained Roumbanis.

Fred Roumbanis uses two different retrieves when fishing with the Roumba:
  •The Surface Retrieve: best action is produced with a semi-taught, 12 to 17 pound test monofilament fishing line, with the rod tip positioned around 8 o’clock angle. The Roumba creates a natural wake by “wobbling” side to side along the water’s surface while producing an enticing sound that makes fish bite. This is an effortless lure that creates the dog walking action on its own.
  •The Sub-surface Crank Retrieve: Using a medium retrieve the Roumba will dive and swim with a wobbling pulsating action between 12 to 18-inches below the surface.  
  •The Roumba was designed to be fished over shallow grass like milfoil and hydrilla, but can also be fished around riprap, docks, lay downs, or any other shallow cover.

There are two visions of the Roumba. The Roumba Silent vision comes without any  rattles while the Rattlin’ Roumba has rattles. The Rattlin’ Roumba was designed for fishing in stained water where visibility is limited. It has a high pitch rattle produced by three internal rattles. “One of the best places to fish the Silent Roumba is in the California Delta. The outgoing tide is going to pull up grass and crawfish; some of the grass will float up or suspend rendering crankbaits that dive useless because it’s always hanging up on the floating vegetation. The Silent Roumba can be used like a wake bait or topwater lure imitating a crawfish swimming across the surface with the outgoing tide. These crawfish are usually red in color so the hot craw will really catch them,” said Roumbanis. While Roumbanis emphasized the subtle action of the Silent Roumba for catching fish in pressure situations or in clear water, the opposite was true for the Rattlin’ Roumba, but with exceptions to the rule. “Kentucky Lake is a great place to fish this lure especially if the reservoir is at flood stage. I will throw firetiger around shoreline cover to catch the big bass there, but the Rattlin’ Roumba also will catch fish on clear water reservoirs. Take for instance Lake Mead out west where I have caught fish on the Rattlin’ Roumba,” explained Roumbanis. Another Roumba that creates a special sound is the Bone colored one. “It’s like a deep knocking sound as your reel it back in, but I like to cast it out and retrieve it like I was walking-the-dog with it. The back and forth movement combined with the thumping sound drives fish crazy,” said Roumbanis.

The Roumba and Rattlin’ Roumba both weigh ½-ounce, 3-inches in length, and rigged with two Owner ST-36 #4 hooks. The Roumba comes in nine color patterns while the Rattlin’ Roumba comes in six.

Hello…is anyone home? It won’t take long to find out if you are fishing with the Roumba or Rattlin’ Roumba. The wobbling, wake bait type action makes this lure irresistible to bass or anything with fins.